Playing Santa
by Reilynn
Summary: S1 ignored Xmas. Here's my strange little idea on what could have happened. Stands alone, but there could be more if people like it.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along. No money is being made from this.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

**Playing Santa**

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

'T was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Only one creature was stirring, and it wasn't a mouse.

The stockings were hung near the radiator with care,

But it wasn't St Nicholas that would soon be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

Doubt and insecurity danced in their heads,

Mom was laid off and Dad was an _honest_ cop,

There wouldn't be enough Christmas money to shop,

They didn't have to ask what was the matter,

With Mom's nerves so frail they feared she might shatter.

Rent, shoes and food had used up all of their cash,

One tooth ache had consumed the very last stash.

If only their poor feet had ceased to grow,

They might have more to hope for Christmas than a slight chance of snow,

Still, Dad had elected to be noble in his chosen career,

Therefore without funds they would have to persevere.

Sulking in their beds when they thought they heard a click,

They snuck to the front room, prepared for some trick.

When what to their wondering eyes should appear?

But, a tiny chimera, dressed in mostly cat burglar gear,

She slipped in through the window, so lively and quick,

They knew in a moment she must work for St. Nick!

More rapid than eagles on her course she came,

The kids squealed, and shouted, and called her by name;

"Santa!" she shouted. He corrected, "No, it's his elf!"

'Oh, damn. I'm busted.' Max thought to herself.

She drew up her head, and was turning around,

When across the room the children came with a bound.

She was all dressed in black, from her neck to her foot.

But she was topped by a red Santa cap with just a bit of soot.

∞∞∞

"Sh!" Max said, trying to quiet the children. If anyone could think fast, it was an X5. If she had ever needed to think fast, it was now. "If anyone finds out you saw me, I'll get in trouble."

"You're eyes glow in the dark!" the little girl that must be Mary said.

Max blinked and thought as fast as she could. "Not exactly, they just gleam. We …elves need to be able to see in the dark. We can't go around turning on light switches all the time."

"There really is a Santa!" the young man that must be Mark said. His eyes were as big as saucers. "Oh, my gosh. We didn't leave out any cookies 'cause I didn't think you were real."

"Where is Santa?" asked the little girl.

"Oh, he's _very_ busy. With as many people as there are in the world now he just …organizes things."

"Why don't people believe in you?" asked the little girl who looked up at Max with such big eyes.

"Well," Max stalled. Then she knelt down to the children's level. She smiled, pleased to have an answer, any answer. "With as many _billions_ of people that are in the world today only the very best get on the 'get presents' list. Just being 'not bad' isn't good enough anymore."

"**I** was that good?" she asked, amazed.

"Well, no." Max paused for dramatic effect as two cute sets of little eyes looked up at her. "But your father was, and all he wanted was for _you_ two to get presents."

"Wow!" the said in unison and awe.

Max nodded sagely. "You should be proud of your father. He's a great man!"

"A great man?" Mark asked in astonishment. "**MY Dad?**"

"Yep," Max grinned. "If THE great man said so, then it must be true."

"Santa said my Dad's a great man?" Mary asks, wide-eyed.

"I heard it myself when he told me to come bring this stuff. I better get moving. There isn't much time. I have other stops; lots of good people in Seattle." Max smiled at the children and started putting gifts under the tree at amazing speed; there was no point in being subtle now.

The children smiled and nodded quietly. Then the little girl observed, "You're bigger than the elves on TV,"

"You can't believe everything you see on TV. She's not blond either," her older brother wisely explains. Then a thought occurs to him, "Are there blond elves?"

Max remembered some of her siblings, "Yeah."

"Freeze!" yelled Matt Sung from the doorway. Max blurred to Matt and grabbed the gun. She retreated to the center of the room, placed the gun on the floor, and then dumped the rest of the presents on top of it. "Sorry," she said. She blurred to the window, leaped up onto the window sill then up and into the night.

∞∞∞

Max grabbed the black nylon rope she had used to rappel down to the window and jumped up. She pulled herself up the rope and managed to get onto the roof before any of them reached the window. She laughed when she heard from somewhere in the distance, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night" and sleigh-bells.

"There's Santa!" screamed the little girl.

"Where?" asked Mark Sung.

"Where!" asked Matt Sung.

Max stifled her giggles. Logan was right. It did feel good to do good deeds. She practically skipped to the other side of the roof and down the fire escape to where she'd parked Logan's Aztec, filled the rest of the gift packages she was to deliver this night.

∞∞∞

None of her other beneficiaries woke up for their visits.

∞∞∞

Eventually Max returned to Logan's apartment.

"Where have you been?" Logan asked. He was so relieved that she was alright after being gone so long for what should have been some fairly simple deliveries.

"Out delivering the presents that you asked me to," Max replied, matter-of-factly.

"Max, it is 3 am! You didn't wake people up in the middle of the night to give them the presents." Logan paused, suddenly uncertain. "Did you?"

"No, I didn't wake anyone up. Well, Matt woke up, but that was more his kids fault than mine. I think I started too early. They were still awake."

"Max, what did you do?" Logan began to feel an unnamed dread.

"I dropped off your stuff. Like you asked me to."

"Was everyone home?" Logan was still hoping for some rational explanation of why this had taken eight hours.

"I assume so. I didn't check." She paused thoughtfully. "I hope you had all the addresses right."

Slowly, painfully, realization dawned on Logan Cale. "MAX!" he shouted, "You didn't!"

"What?" Max asked, puzzled. She did exactly what he asked her to. What was he upset about?

"You **broke in** to the houses?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Max replied very slowly, waiting for the point. "So?"

"I can't believe you broke into the houses." Logan shook his head and stared at the ceiling as if it could provide an explanation for whatever possessed Max to break and enter. OK, granted he knew she had a tendency for B&E. Hell, that was how they met, but still!

"You asked me too!" she snapped.

"I didn't mean break in!" he snapped back, a little bit louder.

"Santa breaks in Christmas eve night or early Christmas morning! I **triple** checked, because I didn't believe Cindy when she told me. I checked with some guy at a church." Max's erratic, excited hand gestures seem to indicate she may be talking about a priest with a collar. "And I went to the library. Santa breaks in!" Max relented at the dismayed look on Logan's face. "I can bring you the book," she offered quietly.

"It's OK." Logan dissolved into laughter because he could not, for the life of him, think of any other way to react to this.

* * *

**Author's Note:**Yes, I KNOW that on several of the lines of verse at the beginning of this the rhythm is very badly off. I think that "Keystone cops in the middle of a ballet" was the analogy used. Here is what I want to know from you:

**_Survey : What it funny that way? Or should I have made it fit the rhythm of the original?_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: No infringement intended. Not affiliated in any way with anyone. Net worth is still a negative number. Nothing to sue here people, move along. No money is being made from this.

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**Playing Santa, part 2**

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Max watched Logan laugh. She smiled softly as an unfamiliar warmth spread through her. She'd realized she was far too emotionally involved with this man when she came back to Seattle for him; or perhaps it when she stayed for him. She just smiled and thought about how very far she had come since Manticore.

"I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before," she mused. She tilted her head and looked at him thoughtfully.

"What?" he asked, still laughing.

"I thought you were supposed to go 'Ho Ho Ho' instead of 'Ha Ha Ha'," she teased.

He just laughed more. She just smiled and watched him.

"I can't believe you did that," Logan sighed and shook his head.

"That's good. Remember that. Plausible deniability is always a good thing," she smiled at him.

He smiled back. "I got you a present," he said.

She looked startled. "Why? I didn't get you anything."

"Helping me deliver Christmas presents," he paused, unsure how or how much to express, "was more than enough."

"I never really got the whole holiday thing."

"I figured that."

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know," he said. He held a red box with a silver bow out to her.

"I don't even know what you want," she said softly as she took the box.

He laughed softly then said sadly, "I know. I mean, that's OK. You don't have to do anything for … that is …I don't need anything."

She pounced. "But there is something you want …"

"I'm just overtired."

"Uh, huh. Logan Cale, the great, the powerful, the sleepy. You would never have admitted it otherwise. What do you want?" She set her present on the coffee table and knelt in front of his chair putting her hands on his lap. "What?" she coaxed.

Logan didn't answer; he just looked down and placed his hands over hers on his lap. "Just ... open your present."

"Aiight …." Max said suspiciously. She pulled off the silver bow and ripped open the festive red wrapping paper. Inside was a gift box from one of the few expensive department stores left in Seattle. She lifted the lid, folded back the white tissue paper and slowly lifted a beautiful, cream colored, silk, negligee from the box. Logan wanted **her; Logan wanted her!** He knew what she was, and he still wanted her! Emotions - fear, joy, and longing - threatened to overwhelm her. In a burst of transgenic speed she was sitting in Logan's lap, her arms and legs were wrapped around him and she was kissing him. After recovering from the initial shock, Logan began kissing her back. His hands roamed her back as he let himself enjoy this moment.

"I'm going to go take a quick shower. I'll meet you in the bedroom in say… five minutes?" Max asked.

Logan could only nod. Max kissed him once and then blurred away to the guest bathroom.

Logan took a deep breath. That wasn't a sweater and he _strongly_ suspected that Bling knew it wasn't! That explained why it was already wrapped. 'Sandra picked out something nice!' indeed! Still, he would never, as long as he lived, forget the look of wonder and then joy on Max's face as she saw her present. She did want him. Would she still after he explained what was left of him? And what was lost? Logan wondered briefly if the was Bling's way of getting back at him for not listening when he tried to talk to him about sex after… Still, it wasn't like he had no experience. He would make tonight good for her, and worry about the rest later. He smiled and rolled himself to his bedroom. He only had five minutes to get ready! There would be advantages to having a woman that could move _that_ fast.

∞∞∞

Logan finished in his bathroom in what he thought was pretty good time. After some thought he put on a pair of pajama bottoms and wheeled himself into his bedroom.

Max had beaten him to the bedroom, apparently by quite some time. There were candles lit everywhere. She was sitting on his bed, wearing nothing but the negligee.

"Hey," he said nervously.

"Hey, yourself." Max got off the bed and came toward him.

"Sorry I'm late. It takes me more time than … We should probably talk."

"I know. It's crazy. All the people out to kill you; all the people out to kill me, turn me back into just a science project." Max kneeled in front of him and ran her hands up his chest. "It's hopeless." She kissed him.

"I'm broken." He held her head in his hand and kissed her back.

"I have some serious design issues." Max crawled into his lap and pressed her body to his chest. Her hands roamed his chest and shoulders. "And getting emotionally attached like this … like I am … It goes against all of my training." She kissed him again.

"Emotionally attached?" Logan asked as her lips wondered down his neck.

"Umm hmmm," she murmured as she found a sensitive nook where between his neck and collarbone. Logan moaned and clutched her to him. Max took that as encouragement and grazed her teeth over the spot.

"Max!" Logan shouted as pleasure shot through him. He could swear that tingled in parts he hadn't felt anything from in months.

"Mmm?" Max smiled inches from his face.

"I'm … emotionally attached to you too."

Max laughed softly and kissed him. "Then what else matters?"

"Max." Logan held her away from him. "We haven't discussed …my injury"

"I don't care."

"There are some things that I can't do."

"I don't care! Logan, if we never have more then _this_; you holding me in your arms; knowing what I am and not being freaked out about; holding me in your arms and feeling your skin; touching …" Max ran her hands up his arms. "I'm happy. Logan, I've never been so happy." She cradled his face in her hands and kissed him.

"Well, I think I can do a little better than running my hands up your arms." He raked his fingertips up her arms then down her back. She moaned and shuddered appropriately, pressing her bosom against his chest as she did so.

"Max, you're so beautiful," Logan murmured into ear as he placed feather light kisses along her throat. "Bed," Logan said.

"Bed," Max echoed. She gracefully stood up from his lap and in what seemed like the same motion, she pulled his chair next to the bed. She picked Logan up without apparent effort, but he obviously wasn't entirely comfortable being held aloft so she laid him down on the bed.

Logan pulled himself to the center of the bed, and then held out his hand for Max. She came to him eagerly. They simply kissed for a time as Logan stroked every part of Max that he could reach.

"Thank you," she said.

He tilted his head, puzzled. "I haven't even gotten started," he grinned at her.

"I mean, for the present. I wanted …I wanted you, but I didn't know how you felt about …what I am …"

"That doesn't matter. Max, it doesn't matter to me what you are or where you are from. All that matters is who you are."

"I'm so glad. I was so afraid that I'd just screw things up, y'know? I've never …felt so …I've never cared about anyone as much as I care about you. I was afraid. I still am, but as long as I'm alive and free, this is what I want." She kissed him with all the love and passion she kept buried for so long.

'She's never cared about anyone this much,' Logan thought. His mind was reeling as his hands massaged her back.

When they finally broke for air he told her, "I love you, too, Max."

Max had never heard that from anyone that knew what she was; never believed it before this moment. At that moment she had more than she'd ever dared to hope. She felt safe and warm and loved and … human. "I love you," she whispered Logan smiled at the soft confession; this was more than he'd dared to dream of. He pulled her up to him and gently slid down the lace of her negligee as he began his sensual exploration of all of Max's willing body.

∞∞∞

Author's Note: I need to know if I should jump to the next morning or take a nice Xmas storyto naughty (read M)?


End file.
